Abstract

CECCARELLI, Paulo Roberto. New family configurations: facts and myths. J. psicanal. [online]. 2007, vol.40, n.72, pp.89-102. ISSN 0103-5835.

According to the main hypotheses of this paper the so-called new family organizations are often felt as a threat because they put in question the traditional family representation in the occidental culture, which leads us to a process of mourning concerning past libidinal positions. To sustain this hypotheses the author follows a historical digression to show that human beings have always regarded suspiciously and fearfully any social changes, and that humanity has always been forced to produce “symbolic reorganizations” to adapt to the new ways of understanding the world. The author also discusses what other societies name “family”, as well as the construction of the definition of family in our culture. According to the author the representative system we call “family” varies from one society to another. Thus the signifier “family” is composed of conscious and unconscious elements that determinate how the social world is organized. Moreover, any family model can only be understood in the social context in which is emerges. Taking as a stand point that the traditional family model has never granted any “normality”, the author discuss what is basically necessary to insert the baby into the symbolic world, that is, to guarantee his or her psychic survival, independently of the protagonists of the family organization that receive the newborn when he or she comes into existence.

Keywords : Family; New family organizations; Inscription in the symbolic order; Oedipus complex; Psychic survival.

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